Doubront no longer dealing with "rookie zone"

Saturday

May 12, 2012 at 10:39 PM

BOSTON -- Bobby Valentine had to jump out of the dugout and jog to the mound in the first inning five days ago to get Felix Doubront not to think so much about the strike zone. Pitches Doubront wanted to be called strikes weren't being called strikes

Brian MacPherson Journal Sports Writer brianmacp

BOSTON -- Bobby Valentine had to jump out of the dugout and jog to the mound in the first inning five days ago to get Felix Doubront not to think so much about the strike zone. Pitches Doubront wanted to be called strikes weren't being called strikes.

"I'm mad about it, but I know they call it the rookie zone," Doubront said a day after that start in Kansas City. "In the future, they're going to know me -- everybody's going to know me -- and they're going to call those strikes. That frustrates me a little bit, but I'm just looking forward to making those pitches better. They're probably going to call them strikes in the future."

Home-plate umpire Al Porter called them strikes on Saturday night against Cleveland. Valentine didn't have to budge from his spot in the dugout.

"The word is getting around a little," Valentine said. "If you watch him pitch, he has so many at-bats when he has two strikes on hitters really quickly. He has good stuff. Maybe word is getting around."

Doubront didn't have to think about the strike zone one bit.

"I don't worry about that," said the lefty, sounding like he'd received a talking-to about focusing on the umpires. "I make those pitches, and if the pitch is good and the umpire calls a ball, that's nothing. I get ready again and throw the same pitch to see if he calls it. If not, I just pitch around it."